Penn State President Rodney Erickson is confident the transition to incoming leader Eric Barron in May will be a “very smooth” one.

Current President Rodney Erickson, left, shakes the hand of President-elect Eric Barron at the trustees meeting. The Penn State University Board of Trustees approves Eric Barron as its next president, Monday, February 17, 2014, in University Park, Pa.
CDT photo

Penn State President Rodney Erickson is confident the transition to incoming leader Eric Barron in May will be a “very smooth” one.

Erickson gave a brief update about his departure and the arrival of Barron during the Faculty Senate meeting Tuesday on campus.

Barron has been the president of Florida State University since 2010, and his last day at the Tallahassee school will be April 2. Erickson’s last day is May 12.

Barron spent 20 years at Penn State, most recently as the dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences from 2002 to 2006 before he left for a similar position at the University of Texas at Austin.

Erickson said Barron and his wife, Molly, will make return to State College in mid-April.

“I know that you will find Eric to be a true collaborator with the senate in all matters related to academics and administration,” Erickson told the faculty.

Erickson said he’ll be “around but out of sight” after May 12, though he expects Barron to hit the ground running. The two have talked about a number of matters relating to the transition of power, though Erickson did not elaborate in his remarks to the faculty.

Barron will be the university’s 18th president.

His base salary is $800,000 — double what he earns at Florida State — and with annual incentives of $200,000 and a $1 million payment at the end of the contract, his contract is worth $6 million.